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Black parents vent frustrations

An NAACP forum draws dozens, who give their opinions on Pinellas' achievement gap between black and white students. Parents list barriers to success and brainstorm solutions.

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published April 8, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Conchetta Hollmon brought all her frustration and outrage with her Saturday morning to a public forum for black parents hosted by the local NAACP.

She also brought along a yellow file folder bulging with referrals her 18-year-old daughter Nikiara has received since the beginning of the school year.

The charges - skipping class, instigating an argument, cheating on a test - all stem from a common thread, Hollmon told a group of fellow parents: the disconnect between the Pinellas school system and the needs of African-American children.

"Who am I to the school system?" Hollmon asked, her voice tinged with bitterness. "I'm a nobody."

Scores of parents, some angry like Hollmon and others more mystified than upset, voiced similar concerns in a series of workshops at the four-hour meeting at John Hopkins Middle School. All told, more than 250 answered the NAACP's invitation to sound off on the factors that are keeping many black parents away from schools.

"We've got some serious business to do this morning," St. Petersburg NAACP president Trenia Cox told a standing-room-only crowd in her opening remarks. "We are coming together collectively to try to get a handle on what it will take to get our children to succeed."

Barbara Hires, an area superintendent who attended the forum on behalf of the school district, echoed Cox's comments.

"An event such as this is crucial if we are intent on closing the achievement gap and leaving no child behind," Hires said. "Let's stop talking the talk and get serious about walking the walk."

In large part, Cox and Hires were preaching to the choir.

Most of the mothers, fathers and grandparents who broke into small groups to discuss specific issues already are plugged into their children's schools.

But they have concerns nevertheless.

Tammi Cannady, who has three children at Bay Point Elementary and one at Lakewood High, said she works hard to stay on top of what's going on. Yet she sometimes feels out of the loop, sensing that teachers categorize her as a parent who doesn't care simply because she is black.

Tarsha Atwater Ahmad - whose children attend Fairmount Park, Tyrone Middle School and Seminole High - said she thinks it's unfair that some schools get labeled as inferior because they have a high population of poor children who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

And Mattie Wright, who graduated from Gibbs High in 1957 and now has four grandchildren in Pinellas schools, said she worries that the difference in academic performance between black and white students seems to be growing.

"The school district sees it as a gap," Wright, 67, said. "I see it as a sinkhole. Once the children fall into it, they can never get out."

Throughout the morning, attendees heard the statistics: Nationwide, test scores of black students lag 20 to 40 percentage points below those of white students. Fewer than 45 percent of Pinellas black students graduate in four years with a standard diploma, while the graduation rate for white students is more than 70 percent.

And the percentage of black students referred to special education programs, suspended and expelled is far greater than that of their white peers.

But the NAACP's purpose in holding the forum was not to heap blame on the school system, its leaders said.

Instead, the idea was to find a way for parents and the district to work together to accomplish what neither can do alone.

Toward that end, group leaders asked parents in each small group to list what they perceived as barriers to their success and to brainstorm solutions.

Among the most frequently cited barriers: prejudice and favoritism, low expectations, overcrowded classrooms and a lack of flexibility in scheduling parent-teacher conferences.

Among the solutions: asking the district to provide more resources for parents, demanding that it hire more minority teachers, getting involved before something goes wrong and holding children accountable.

Cox assured the parents that their comments will be relayed to school superintendent Clayton Wilcox and the School Board. She also told them similar forums may be held in other parts of the county.

Clifford Burney, chairman of the NAACP's education committee, summed up the morning's events as forum participants enjoyed lunch compliments of LongHorn Steakhouse.

"We need to hold the school district accountable," Burney said.

"We also need to focus on what we can do as parents. Once we get all of the different segments of the community working together, we're hopeful we can turn the situation around."

[Last modified April 8, 2006, 21:27:39]